COVINGTON CHOSEN AS KENTUCKY CULTURAL DISTRICT

by Michael Monks 
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The City of Covington was chosen Thursday morning as one of five Kentucky communities to receive Cultural District Certification as announced by First Lady Jane Beshear. From the release:

The Cultural District Certification program, administered by the Kentucky Arts Council, encourages community engagement and partnerships to build vibrant communities through the arts.
An independent panel of reviewers deemed these five communities ready for certification from a pool of 26 applicants. The Kentucky Arts Council will continue working with communities seeking certification, offering technical and planning assistance throughout the year.
“We applaud the work of all the communities that have gone through the application process. They have made major inroads in leveraging their unique cultural assets,” said Lori Meadows, executive director of the arts council. “We can see from most of the applications that substantial partnerships are being formed among arts and cultural entities, businesses and local governments.”
A cultural district is a well-recognized, labeled, mixed-use area of a community featuring a high concentration of cultural amenities that attract local residents and visitors alike. Cultural districts can be found in any type of community, from small and rural to large and urban. Kentucky’s program is designed to showcase each community’s unique character and assets.

Here is how the Commonwealth recognized Covington (through words written by City employee Natalie Bowers):

Before the Kentucky Cultural District Certification program offered statewide recognition of cultural districts, the City of Covington Arts Initiative had already been created to attract businesses and investment to the city’s urban core. Our goal was to encourage economic development and increase taxable income within the city— and ultimately improve the quality of life. With our new certification, we will continue to strive to attract, promote and support the arts and cultural activities, ensure we have a thriving arts community by developing collaborative strategies among our local arts organization, and encourage arts-related business and job development.

Located in Kenton County at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking Rivers, Covington has a rich arts history influenced by the Catholic Church, most notably the architecture of St. Mary’s Basilica Cathedral of the Assumption built in 1910 as well as fine liturgical sculpture. As the northernmost gateway to Kentucky, Covington provides a unique introduction to those entering the Commonwealth.
Covington’s cultural district includes four cornerstone organizations: Artisan Enterprise Center, which is Covington’s community art center and gallery; the Carnegie Center for Performing and Visual Arts, which is housed in a fully restored original Carnegie library building; Baker Hunt Arts and Cultural Center, which is Covington’s oldest arts education institution; and Behringer Crawford, which is the city’s oldest museum where visitors can get a real sense of Covington’s culture and heritage. Included in the district are recreational trails along the banks of the winding Licking River, floodwall murals by Robert Dafford portraying the history of Covington, an extensive parks system and Mainstrasse Village’s restaurants, taverns and specialty retail shops representing Covington’s German heritage.
Experience Covington is a free interactive web-based tour of historical landmarks and places of interest in the community. Users can select from six different tours of Covington and listen to an audio narrative of each site as they walk or drive the tour route. The Faith Tour, Arts and Culture Tour, Historic Tour, Architecture Tour, Neighborhood Tour and Unexpected Covington Tour each offer a unique view of Covington.
Covington contains two of Kentucky’s 30 National Historic Landmarks. The Roebling Suspension Bridge, a familiar icon of both Covington and Cincinnati, opened in 1866 and was at that time the longest in the world. The boyhood home of Daniel C. Beard, a founder of the Boy Scouts of America, was built in 1821 and is one of the two oldest buildings in Kenton County. Covington is aPreserve America Community, Certified Local Government Program community and a Kentucky Main Street community.

In addition to Covington, Berea, Danville, Horse Cave, and Paducah were recognized.